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What will happen to a Christian if he commits a sin just prior to his death? Will he be saved? It certainly is an intriguing question. It seems plausible that a Christian could curse just prior to his death say in an automobile accident. In light of James 2:10, does that mean his soul is eternally lost just because he slipped up just prior to his death?

If that scenario is possible, then we could easily think of many more situations where God’s mercy would be required to save us. By extension of that logic, if God is willing to grant us mercy for one unrepentant sin, He certainly should be willing to extend mercy to us for all our unrepentant sins. However, that would not be just if God extended mercy either arbitrarily or with partiality. So is it even possible for God to make exceptions to His law?

In order to properly analyze this hypothetical situation, we must be careful to address the subject by examining what is revealed in scriptures. It is very tempting for us to speculate on the outcome of a person’s conduct (Matt. 7:1-2). We should always allow the Bible to be our guide in this and any other important question. We should also respect the silence of the scriptures if it does not address the issue (Deut. 4:2; Prov. 30:6; Rev. 22:18-19). We certainly do not want to make up our own rules for God’s judgments.

We cannot be certain what decisions Christ will make on the Judgment Day unless He reveals it to us. “For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:11-16). The apostle Paul continues these thoughts when he wrote, “What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy” (Rom. 9:14-16). God’s judgment will be righteous and God will have mercy on whomever He decides to have mercy. Obviously, God’s mercy is conditional. Just because we live as a Christian does not mean God will automatically extend His mercy. John asked a good question that illustrates this point well. He wrote, “But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?” (1 Jn. 3:17). In light of James 2:13, it would seem such a merciless individual does not deserve any mercy even if his only other transgression was committed just prior to his death.

Christ is not a respecter of persons (Deut. 10:17; 2 Chron. 19:7; Rom. 2:11; Gal. 2:6; Eph. 6:9; 1 Pet. 1:17 ). “But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality” (Col. 3:25). The fact that a person is a Christian does not skew His judgment. How we feel about a matter does not change the truth (Prov. 3:5; 28:26). Just like in math class, how we feel about the problems has no bearing on the answers. Human logic that suggests God will forgive unconditionally is not the kind of justice God will use on the Judgment day.

One unrepentant sin could cause us to lose our souls (Jas. 2:10). One misspoken word subjects us to judgment (Matt. 12:36; Jas. 5:12). Hating our brethren will prevent salvation (1 John 3:14-15). A Christian that teaches a false doctrine will be accursed (Gal. 1:6-9; 5:4; 2 Pet. 3:16-17). God is not even going to cut any slack to a weak brother whose sin was caused by a more knowledgeable Christian (1 Cor. 8:11-12).

Ananias and Sapphira were Christians. They lied just prior to their death (Acts 5:1-11). Will they be saved even if they prayed for forgiveness of all their past sins just prior to the events that took their lives? Remember, it was Christ who said, “All liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone” (Rev. 21:8). If we say Christ will be merciful to all Christians for a few unforgiven sins at the Judgment, then Ananias and Sapphira should be safe. But then again, who would dare to make such a judgment since we aren’t God?

Many will ask, “What hope of salvation is there if God is so strict (Heb. 12:29)?” Peter provides the answer. “As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 1:4-11). Peter is saying if we give all diligence to these things we will be fruitful, productive, obedient, forgiven at a moment’s notice to God. However, if we aren’t obedient in our diligence to these things, we are blind perhaps even thinking that we can’t keep ourselves pure because we are so wicked.

God gives time for repentance. Longsuffering means patient endurance. It is a quality of God toward all mankind (Rom. 9:22; 1 Tim. 1:16; 2 Pet. 3:9). “Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance” (Rom. 2:4)? This doesn’t mean God tolerates sin. It means God gives us an opportunity to repent (Matt. 7:7-11; Lk. 11:9). God knows our hearts and will give us time to repent (though it may not be for long). He gave the churches in Asia time to repent (Rev. 2:4-5, 14-16). Ananias and Sapphira had their moment just prior to their death to repent. However, it appears they didn’t take that opportunity nor was that opportunity extended for very long.

Notice how quickly Peter rebuked Simon the Sorcerer and the reason for the rebuke in Acts 8:18-24. Despite the fact that Simon is a new convert committing a sin in ignorance the Apostle required immediate repentance. There is as much urgency for us to repent of our sins as there is to be baptized once we learn the truth (Acts 16:25, 33; 22:16; 2 Cor. 6:2; Jas. 4:14).

Sin is a choice. When we are tempted to sin, God not only gives us a way out but He won’t allow a temptation beyond our ability to resist. “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” (1 Cor. 10:13). If we sin just prior to death it is because we allowed it to happen. Once we recognize our error, we must immediately repent as we might not have much time remaining.

God is as long suffering as he is merciful. When you think about it, the scenario where a person sins just prior to death is really a hypothetical situation that is unlikely to ever occur to any true Christian. If we are living our lives as we should, we will take every opportunity to repent of our sins. The Lord doesn’t wish anyone to perish (2 Pet. 3:9). It doesn’t make sense to think that God would allow our death to occur in a manner in which no opportunity for repentance exists. We can take comfort in knowing that God will give all of us an opportunity to repent of our sins; even for a sin that occurs just prior to our death.

There are more Bibles in print than any other book. Yet, most people do not know what it says or how it applies to their lives. We want to challenge everyone to learn what the Bible says. There is nothing to lose by studying the Bible and everything to gain. Our own soul’s salvation is dependent upon our proper understanding and our obedience to God’s instructions.

The Bible is God’s inspired instructions to mankind. II Timothy 3:16 says, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God,…” Inspiration specifically means, “the drawing of air into the lungs” (Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary). In other words, God breathed all scriptures in the Bible! It is as though God wrote the Bible by his own hand. The Bible is the revealed Word of God. The Bible contains the knowledge of God for all mankind.

“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” (II Peter 1:2-4)

However, this knowledge of God does not come without some effort on our part. II Timothy 2:15 states, “Study to show thyself approved unto God,…” This phrase infers that a lack of knowledge of God’s Word is the same as our disapproval of God. If we fail to study the Bible, we are telling God we object to His instructions. Is there any chance of our obtaining salvation if we reject God?

“Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?” (Hebrews 2:1-4)

We are foolish to neglect learning God’s will. We know the Bible is from God. We would never think of insulting our Lord by ignoring His instructions. Yet, for various reasons, we allow ourselves to neglect our greatest personal responsibility. It is our personal responsibility to seek and learn God’s will. Jesus said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,…” (Matthew 6:33). We must remove the dust from our Bibles that sit on the living room coffee table and read it. No one can come to knowledge of God without it.

We would like to help anyone who desires to learn God’s will. If you need a Bible, we will get you one. If you need help studying the Bible, we can provide instruction. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8).

In Titus 2:11-13 we read: “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.” This passage affirms that the grace of God that brings salvation teaches us. The salvation here mentioned is obviously salvation from sin and its power. There is a grace of God, however, that does not bring salvation from sin, and from its operation we can gain a good idea of the meaning of grace in its spiritual implications.

The word grace simply means “favor.” Actually we live and move and have our very being by the grace of God. By His grace we breathe the air. By His grace we eat the food to satisfy our hunger. By His grace we drink water to quench our thirst. Every physical blessing we enjoy may be properly ascribed to the grace of God.

It is equally true that this grace by which we live is unmerited By this we mean that there is nothing inherent about man which obligates God to bestow His favor upon him. Man has not and cannot do anything to obligate God to him apart from God’s self-chosen love and Will toward man. This is as true spiritually as physically.

If man lives by God’s grace he cannot be passive toward that grace. God provides food but man must eat it. God provides water, but man must drink it. God provides air but man must breathe it. God does not force His grace upon man in the physical realm; neither does He force His grace upon man in spiritual matters.

Grace Teaches

The passage under consideration (Titus 2:11) declares that God’s grace teaches. This statement harmonizes with every other passage in the Bible having to do with man’s salvation. It was and is through the process of teaching that God reveals His interest in and love for sinful man. “It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe” (I Corinthians 1:21). After man, by his own inventions, learning, wisdom and philosophy had demonstrated the utter foolishness of trying to save himself, Jehovah interposed the gospel to do for man that which he had not done and could never do for and by himself. Thus Jesus spoke: “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16), and Paul declares: “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16). The grace of God, then, reveals itself in the gospel and the gospel can save none who refuse to believe it. This is exactly the point the Apostle makes in Ephesians 2:8 when he says, “By grace are ye saved through faith.” This is the same grace of Titus 2:11 — the grace “that bringeth salvation,” the grace that teaches.

With these thoughts before us it is not difficult to understand why Jesus said, “Go ye into all the world and preach (teach) the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:16), and “Go ye therefore and teach all nations” (Matthew 28:19). Teaching or preaching the gospel was the means by which God’s grace was to be made known to the peoples of earth. For man to reject the gospel, then, is to rebel at the grace of God which brings salvation.

Teaching the gospel is necessary, but teaching alone can profit none whatever. Where teaching falls on deaf ears and stubborn hearts it is as seed sown on hardened, wayside soil (Matthew 13:4). There must be a hearing of the Word, a hearing whose disposition is to heed, if the teaching is to profit; hence, Jesus not only said to His disciples, “Take heed what you hear.” but also, “Take heed how you hear.” A receptive heart is a necessity if grace’s teaching is to enlighten it.

Grace Demands Faith

Just as one cannot come to God without believing that “God is” and that He rewards them who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6), so one cannot come to Jesus Christ without believing He is the Son of God (John 5:39,40; 6:28-47; 8:21-24). The heart indisposed to hearing and learning can never be drawn to God in this condition (John 6:44,45). As long as there is no will to learn the teaching there cannot possibly be any faith to save, and for the Word to profit it must be learned (John 6:45) with a view to believing and doing what it says (John 7:17), because apart from faith in it, the Word cannot profit those who hear it (Hebrews 4:2).

The grace of God, then, provides the means for man’s redemption from sin, but man in sin must appropriate this means (the gospel) by hearing, learning, and believing it. This means that man is not passive but active in his salvation. For him to be otherwise is to make of him a mere machine, wholly without power to discern or choose between good and evil. If he is altogether passive he could not save himself if he would, and he would not if he could. In such condition if man is lost he cannot help it and if he is saved he cannot prevent it. If we deny man’s activity in salvation we thereby deny his free moral agency, and if man, as God made him, is not a free moral agent with power to choose between good and evil and thereby determine his own eternal destiny, the entire Bible is useless. All its pleadings, overtures and invitations plus all its warnings, threats and commandments are but sounding brass and clanging cymbals — they are empty, absurd and wasted.

There is not one passage in the Bible which indicates man is not free to choose between good and evil, between God and Satan, between salvation and damnation. It is this one consideration which gives grace its efficacy as that grace is revealed in the gospel. The gospel is powerless to save him who refuses to believe it. It is God’s chosen medium to save man who does believe it.

Grace and Works

“But,” asks one, “does not Paul declare in Ephesians 2:8, ‘By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast‘?” Indeed the Apostle so states, but instead of this passage teaching that salvation is of grace without man’s activity, it affirms the exact opposite. Notice the expression “through faith.” Salvation is “by grace through faith,” not by grace without faith. The grace is God’s part, in man’s salvation, the faith is man’s part.

Then what about the expression: “that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast?” Obviously, though man is active in salvation his salvation comes neither through his own wisdom (I Corinthians 1:21), his own merit (Romans 3:9-19), nor his own works as is the clear implication of the passage before us. God does the saving, not man. Jehovah has designed the plan of salvation, has revealed it to man in the gospel, and has invited man to embrace it. When man in sin accepts the divine plan and conforms his life thereto, by virtue of this action he acknowledges his own inability to design and execute a plan for saving himself. Though he submits to the will of God, salvation is not of himself but of God; hence it is “not of works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy he saved us” (Titus 3:5).

If finite man could save himself through his own wisdom or his own standard of righteousness he would have whereof to boast even before God. This is exactly what Paul declares in I Corinthians 1 man has not done and can never do. As indicated above, God designed and perfected the plan for man’s redemption; hence, salvation is not and cannot be by the works of man apart form God’s revelation and, therefore man cannot boast about his salvation.

“It (salvation) is the gift of God” in exactly the same sense that Jesus Christ is the gift of God. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” (John 3:16), but because God gave His Son it does not follow that all the world is saved by Him. Actually, Jesus Christ is God’s “offer” of salvation and cannot be a “gift” unless and until He is accepted. So it is with salvation. Salvation if “offered” to sinners through the gospel but does not become and cannot properly be a gift until accepted or appropriated. Man’s action or inaction with reference to God’s offer is that which determines salvation’s remaining an “offer” or becoming a “gift.” Here again we see salvation predicated on man’s disposition or will toward it.

Grace and Baptism

Sometimes we are told that if one must be baptized in order to be saved, salvation is made to depend upon a work of man, not on the grace of God. The fallacy in this reasoning is easily detected when we remember that baptism is not a work of man. While it is true that man is active in submitting to baptism, it is not true that baptism had its origin or continues its purpose in the wisdom or works of men. The Lord Jesus once asked the stubborn Jews a timely question about the baptism administered by John the Baptist. Said He, “The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men?” (Matthew 21:25). Obviously, John’s baptism came from God (John 1:33), not from men. This being true, Jews submitting to it were doing the work of God. In like manner, when sinners are baptized at the command of Jesus Christ, they are doing the work of God, not the work of men for baptism exists now by order of God, not by order of men (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15,16; Acts 2;38; I Peter 3:21). On another occasion the Jews asked Jesus, “What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?” Jesus answered, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him Whom He hath sent” (John 6:28,29). We ask: “How can this be true?” i.e. in what sense can one do the work of God when he believes on Jesus Christ? The answer is clear if we will remember that God thus commands it. Anytime we do what God commands because He ordered it we are working the work of God. This is equally true of believing on His Son, repenting of sins, confessing faith in
Christ with the mouth, being baptized, partaking of the Lord’s Supper, or doing anything else of which God is the Author.

Divine and Human

We should not lose sight of the fact that there are two sides to the scheme of redemption — the divine and the human. God and man’s. There are some things that belong exclusively to God while there are others that belong entirely to man. For example, it was God’s prerogative to decide to offer man salvation; it is man’s prerogative to accept or reject the offer. It was God’s choice to send His Son; it is man’s choice to believe on or disbelieve Him. It is God’s order for men to be baptized in order to be saved; it is left up to man whether he will be baptized and be saved or reject baptism and be damned.

As certain as God offers salvation to sinners by the preaching of the gospel it is just that certain that this is the grace of God that brings salvation by teaching. Contrariwise, to reject the gospel as it is preached, i.e., the gospel taught, is to refuse the grace of God and thereby forfeit salvation.

“What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:25).

“Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end; While it is said, ‘Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation’” (Hebrews 3:12-15).

“Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. for if the Word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:1-3).

“And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Acts 16:31).

“And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now He commandeth all men every where to repent; Because He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness but that man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him form the dead” (Acts 17:30,31).

“And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16).

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (I Corinthians 15:58).

“Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city” (Revelation 22:14).

In August 2005, a survey conducted by Newsweek and Beliefnet asked 1,000 Americans what they believe and how they practice their faith. One of the questions asked was Can a good person who isn’t of your religious faith go to heaven or obtain salvation, yes or no?

Of those that answered this question, 68 % of evangelical Protestants said yes. 83 % of non-evangelical Protestants said yes, 91 percent of Catholics said yes and 73 percent of those classified as non-Christians replied yes. An overall average of 79 % thinks that you can get to heaven just for being good. The responses are interesting. Most people believe those of different faiths will be saved. Among Catholics and more liberal Protestants, that view is overwhelming. These results would suggest that despite what the Bible teaches, most people believe most everyone will be saved.

Jesus was asked a similar question, recorded in Luke 13:22-27. He spoke and taught often on who would be saved.

“And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?” And He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.”

Over in Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus was recorded as saying something similar.

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

We need to remember history; only 8 souls were saved from the flood, 3 from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and out of the exodus from Egypt only 2 men over 20 out of 603,550 made it into the land of Canaan.

It is a sad fact that only a few will find the way that leads to life.

What is the way that leads to life? Jesus taught that he is the way and the only way.

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

The poisonous notion that it doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you believe you will be saved might be a fuzzy feel good solution for the worldly, but we know that isn’t true. Look at Cornelius in Acts 10. He was a religious person, yet he still needed salvation. Peter recounts this in Acts 11:13-14.

“And he told us how he had seen an angel standing in his house, who said to him, ‘Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon whose surname is Peter, who will tell you words by which you and all your household will be saved.’”

If belief is enough, why did Peter have to tell them the words by which they would be saved? Other examples are the Jews on the day of Pentecost, the Ethiopian Eunuch, Lydia, and Saul. All of them believers, yet they needed salvation. Being religious isn’t enough. You can not be a Christian if you believe that salvation can be found anywhere outside of Christ. Jesus taught specifically that salvation is for those who obey. Many want to think that all who believe in Jesus will be saved; that we are saved by faith only with no need for obedience. Yet Jesus warned us of those who believed in Him but were lost.

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matthew 7:21-23)

These men believed Him to be their Lord. They spent their lives in service to the Lord but they had not done the Father’s will! Can it be any more plain than that? Jesus is the author of salvation to all who obey Him, and the end to those who do not obey His gospel. Not all believers will be saved. Remember James 2:19. The demons believe, yet tremble! Believing that many (if not all) will be saved is a comforting doctrine and a view praised as tolerant and loving, but it is still poison. If one really desires to follow Jesus, they must abide in His teaching (John 8:30-32). Few will be saved. Jesus is the only way and salvation is for those who do His Father’s will.

God wants all men to be saved (1 Timothy 2:3-6; 2 Peter 3:9). He has given His Son as the perfect sacrifice and the perfect mediator. But it will only benefit us if we believe and obey His Son.